Italy’s women are finding it harder to get abortions as number of pro-choice doctors fall

Italy is failing to ensure that abortion is routinely available and is allowing discrimination to take place as the number of pro-choice doctors and nurses shrinks, the Council of Europe has said.

The Strasbourg based intergovernmental human rights watchdog said that women in Italy continued to have “significant difficulty” in accessing pregnancy termination services, even though abortion was legal, and that as a result Italy was violating women’s health rights.

“In some cases . . . women who want an abortion can be forced to turn to other providers, in Italy or abroad, or resort to ending their pregnancy without the support of competent health authorities,” it ruled in response to a complaint from a health workers’ union.